Steffan Waters

The University of Florida, Warrington College of Business

A curious and results-driven leader who strives to positively impact and inspire others around him.

Hometown: Elmira, NY

Fun fact about yourself: I have been collecting sports memorabilia since I was a teenager and have built my collection to over 20 pieces of signed and/or limited-edition pieces. My three newest and possibly favorite pieces are 3-foot tall bobbleheads of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Carmelo Anthony. My future man cave will thank me!

Undergraduate School and Degree: Elmira College; M.S. in in Management

Elmira College; B.S. in Accounting and Marketing

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? I worked for the Atlantic Hockey Association as the Associate Commissioner for Branding, Marketing, and Communications.

Where did you intern during the summer of 2023? Lowe’s – Pro Strategic Initiatives Finance

Where will you be working after graduation? I will be returning to Lowe’s as a Finance Manager within their Finance Development Program

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School:

MBA Association (MBAA) Vice President of Case Competitions: Appointed to the MBAA board to help facilitate the sourcing of case competition opportunities for my MBA peers, field teams, and provide coaching to our competing teams before competition. I also wrote the case prompt for the UF MBA Internal Case Kick-Off.

UF MBA Marketing Case Classic Executive Director (Planning Committee): As an extension of my VP role, I served as the Executive Director of our planning committee, spearheading the development of a new case competition offering hosted by the University of Florida.

Graduate Career and Peer (GCAP) Mentor

UF MBA Ambassador

Case Competitions:

TCU/NAPE Energy Innovation Case Competition – 1st Place

UF MBA Internal Case Competition – 2nd Place

Upcoming: 2024 IDEACorps Consulting Challenge (March 9-10, 2024) & 2024 SEC MBA Case Competition (April 5-6, 2024)

Past: 2023 SABR/MLB Diamond Dollars Case Competition

Florida Gators Football Official Statistician – It wasn’t as easy as I thought to walk away from the sports life and found a perfect opportunity to dive into life as a Gator by sitting in press row and taking game stats each Saturday at The Swamp!

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? Being named “Best Presenter” and my team taking home second place during the UF Internal Case Competition represented significant growth milestones for me in my business school career. I had presented in front of rooms of college administrators and coaches plenty of times before, even run a few dozen press conferences. Early in my first year, I discovered that business presentation building and storytelling were different, and it’d take practice to be at the level I wanted to be at. I lost multiple case competitions and tryouts during my first year, but I took those learning opportunities in stride and made it a point to put myself in situations where I could learn and grow. While it would have been nice to have that individual honor be paired with a first-place finish (that elusive first place trophy came a few months later at TCU/NAPE!), seeing that work pay off in any form, and doing it alongside my best friend in the program, is what I’m most proud of doing.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? It would have to be elevating the brand identity of the Atlantic Hockey Association to national prominence and negotiating a long-term media rights deal that secured the conference’s financial viability for years to come. I arrived at the Atlantic Hockey Association to find a brand identity that was lagging not just our NCAA Division I counterparts, but those in NCAA Division III as well. But through a comprehensive strategy, featuring plenty of winning and losing ideas and lots of late nights along the way, we saw comprehensive growth that exceeded all of our annual goal KPIs on a year-over-year basis. That growth helped position the brand and our on-ice product to be desired by several sports content distributors and I spent a year vetting and negotiating the largest streaming rights contract in league history. It has been extremely rewarding knowing that the years of work grew to something great and sustainable even after I left the conference.

Why did you choose this business school? As I was going through the exploration and interview stages for business school, there was something about the University of Florida that just felt right. As an avid sports fan, there was definitely an allure of going to a big SEC school, and I never had a bad conversation with MBA alums, but I ultimately chose Florida because of its career services team. I met the Director of Graduate Career Services and our MBA Career Coach, Carly Escue, during my admissions interview. As someone who was pursuing such a substantial career pivot (from sports to finance) and wasn’t exactly sure how I’d go about achieving my career goals, Carly gave me confidence that Florida had all the tools to help me succeed. I left the interview knowing in my gut that Florida was the school for me and those feelings remained when it came time to choose which business school to attend. I can confidently say now that I was definitely meant to be a Gator – Once a Gator, always a Gator!

Who was your favorite MBA professor? I’m extremely thankful to have taken a series of finance classes with my favorite professor, Dr. Michael Ryngaert, as I pursued a finance concentration at Florida. Dr. Ryngaert is a brilliant finance mind and an even better person, always making himself available to talk about anything on your mind, from finance to football (Great year for him as a Lions and Wolverines fan!). He has had a profound impact on my MBA experience, and I can truthfully say that without his commitment as a professor and him challenging me at every turn, I do not have the financial analytical or modeling skills that I have now. Much of my growth at Florida, where I’ve evolved from a sports marketer to a finance professional, can be credited to Dr. Ryngaert.

What was your favorite course as an MBA? While Professor James Parrino’s Mergers & Acquisitions class holds a special place in my heart for giving me the knowledge necessary to help win the TCU/NAPE Case Competition, my favorite class as an MBA was Dr. Michael Ryngaert’s Study in Valuation class. I, along with 6 or 7 of my cohort-mates, took this class at the end of our first year. Dr. Ryngaert, who also taught us Capital Structure and Risk Management, told us on the first day of class that we were not prepared for this class and, as the third class of a three-part valuation trilogy, we were taking it out of order. To no one’s surprise, he was right, but the extra work needed to play catch up was worth it. I learned more about analyzing the three financial statements, adjusting line items, and financial modeling than at any point before. And to cap it off, I built my first company valuation from scratch and prepared an analyst report for a stock of my choosing. It was the first time I had learned and applied finance to that level. Even though it was one of the hardest classes I took while at UF, it is also my favorite. Without the rigorous teachings of that class, and doing it at that time, I know I’m not capable of taking on a bonus project at Lowe’s this past summer where I solo led a business case with one of the business teams to close out my internship experience.

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school? It has to be MBA tailgating. There are four cohorts within the full-time MBA program. Given the diversity of classes we’re taking and other personal responsibilities, it’s not often that all four cohorts have the opportunity to come together throughout the year. On Saturdays in the fall, that’s exactly what we do. Those Saturday afternoons spent with my fellow MBAs the last two years are some of my fondest memories and a staple of the program.

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why? There’s little I would change about my actual MBA experience. I’ve been able to accomplish nearly everything I set out to do when I came to Gainesville. If there’s one thing I would do differently, it’d be immersing myself into the UF campus community more often. I’ve had an opportunity to work with and get to know a handful of other graduate students within the Hough Graduate School of Business, but I would have sought ways to connect more with those students as well as students from other professional schools on campus.

What is the biggest myth about your school? It would be that our small size keeps us from being able to garner the same attention nationally from companies. While we may not have the volume of MBAs as other programs out there, we produce high-quality candidates each year and that is shown by our placements and placement rate each year. I’m proud to have friends in, or going into, highly-prestigious roles with companies around the country.

What surprised you the most about business school? I was surprised by how collegial everyone within the program was towards each other. I expected a group of highly-competitive MBAs to be cutthroat. What I found was a group of people, while yes, competitive, were also there for each other and supporting each other through classes and recruiting each step of the way.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? There are a number of classmates that I have gotten to know and respect through my time at UF. However, the classmate I admire the most is my now-roommate, Michael Hernandez. Mike is always authentically himself; he is in constant pursuit of his goals, and is not afraid to take a risk by betting on himself. He is the ultimate entrepreneur, thriving in high-level strategy and problem-solving. He and I have spent many nights talking about his vision for all of the companies he plans to create in his post-MBA life.

Mike has a remarkable work ethic, is one of the best speakers and storytellers I’ve ever met. While extremely confident in his abilities, he is quite humble. But while I admire Mike’s professional traits, I am more thankful for his friendship. I can honestly say that my MBA experience would not have been as robust or transformative without knowing and being friends with Mike. We found that our skills complement each other. Because of that, we push each other to consistently get better in areas where we aren’t as strong. While I can’t speak for him, I know that has paid dividends in my life both personally and professionally. If you ask him, he’ll deny this, but being able to grow as a public speaker and storyteller to the point where I am beating him out for a “Best Presenter” award is all credited to him.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list?

1) I hope to learn and develop as many skills as I can so that I can be the transformational leader I seek to be. I want to be in a position to impact as many people as possible and help them realize their true potential. As a former tennis coach, I gravitate towards coaching in general and hope to be in a position professionally in which I am lifting people up in their everyday lives.

2) One day down the line, I’d like to own my own business then “retire” to be a professor. The “what” of the business has yet to be determined, I have a few ideas that I’m working through, but my holistic experience in the UF MBA program has confirmed my desire to own a company one day. Teaching is my way of passing that knowledge and business experience on to the next generation. I’ve had such great professors in my time in school that I feel the desire to replicate that experience for future students.

What made Steffan such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2024?

“Steffan Waters is a second year UF MBA student and Vice President of Case Competitions for the student governing UF MBA Association (MBAA). After his appointment, he helped facilitate case competition opportunities for his peers by fielding teams and providing coaching to our competing teams prior to competition.

Steffan has been an active participant in many case competitions himself. In his first year, he and his team represented multiple graduate programs at the Diamond Dollars Case Competition hosted by the Society for American Baseball Research. His ability to work across graduate programs resulted in a dynamic team that consisted of not only full-time MBAs, but also students from other programs who e able to bring additional skillsets. In his second year, Steffan and his team won 2nd place at the UF MBA Case Competition where he was also awarded “Best Presenter.” Steffan took that to the next level winning 1st place at the Texas Christian University/NAPE Energy Innovation Case Competition where he and his team effectively analyzed five mid-level E&P companies to recommend the next major oil acquisition and presented the benefits that M&As can have on various stakeholders including the labor force, shareholders, and customers. Go Gators!

Steffan also advocates for current and future business students. He is an active Graduate Career and Peer (GCAP) Mentor who specializes in providing Warrington students with peer-to-peer career development assistance in their search for great internship and job opportunities. He is also a UF MBA Ambassador, supporting the Admissions team by meeting with prospective students through in-person or virtual chats, supporting recruiting events and even being matched with admitted students to help them with their transition into the program.

Steffan interned at Lowe’s Pro Strategic Initiatives and upon graduation he will join Lowe’s as a Finance Manager within their Finance Development Program.”

Meghan Blake
Associate Director of Experiential Learning
UF MBA Programs

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